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Is anybody placing these? If, so do you have a policy on care and maintenance of the line? How do staff nurses feel about caring for these lines? We have a hospitalist who likes to place them on pts that are hard IV sticks.

Go to INS website to look for position paper on catheters in the EJ vein. AVA had a paper on PICCs inserted via the IJ, but I noticed today that this is not available as it is in revision. The EJ, a superficial vein, is acceptable for insertion of a short PIV, however it is a very tortuous vein and can easily infiltrate. I would never perform any high pressure injections in this site and would make sure that it is carefully assessed for a brisk blood return, and absense of all signs and symptoms before each and every infusion or injection. Adequate stabilization is extremley difficult due to neck motion. So this should be regarded as a site of last resort for a very limited time until a more suitable access can be obtain with a PICC insertion or some other type of CVC. Lynn